Another Bad FE Fanfic
by SeaJade
Summary: A self-insert fanfic that takes place during Shadow Dragon(Starting from in game Ch 5 and on). Because it's a self-insert, be prepared for muchly cliche. Anyway, if you don't like, read, if you like read anyway. NOT A GARY/MARY/HARRY/WHATEVER STEW FANFIC! Ok, maybe it isn't that bad, but decide that yourself. (Insert enticing sentence here that piques your interest in this story.)
1. Mysterious Newcomer: Zero!

Hey, first Chapter of a random fanfic that I thought might be fun to write on.

* * *

I fell through the air,

falling...

falling...

falling...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGG!"

The scream shattered the peaceful, tranquil night air. What once was a quiet and still forest was now alive with the sounds of surprised and panicked animals followed by a loud SPLASH. In a few moments the animals had quieted down, the birds returned to their nests and each animal to it's respected home.

Okay, let's back up a little. It's always polite to introduce with a name isn't it? Well my name is...hmm, I can't seem to remember what my name is...I know, I know, typical.

Well, okay, let us skip introductions. How did I come to falling through the sky and landing in the middle of a forest? Well, let us start off by saying that I like playing Nintendo games...a lot. So, naturally, when I hear that Nintendo is coming out with a system that allows the player to be in the game, I kinda nerd out.

And I don't mean like _in _the game as in a playable character, but in the game as in a life size visual model of the game and you get to control the whole game from inside of the game type in the game.

I have a feeling that made no sense. Okay, let's just say that it was a cool invention and Nintendo was selling limited tickets to demo this system to see if it would be practical. So, naturally, I signed up and got the position to be one of the twelve testers of the game.

So, I got there and the was this big hullabaloo and tons of people were there, yes, I mean tons. Thousands of people filed in to see the development of this new gaming system. Well, it was like one of those helmets that you put on and you see everything digitally. We were all lined up to go in and I was last. They let us into the room with the systems about thirty seconds apart. When we were all settled, they announced the chosen game: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.

Great choice, I love that game, played it at least five times. Anyway, the game started and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Anyway, the game started and everything seemed to be going smoothly. The beginning credits rolled on and the game was starting. Coincidentally, that is when things started to go wrong. I wasn't in control anymore. The title screen just kept playing. _Hmm, is this supposed to be happening?_

Well, I couldn't hear any panicked voices outside so I assumed that they just wanted us to see the whole opening credits. As they played they seemed to add a few classes to the mix. They did go through the traditional cavaliers, paladins, knights, generals...and so on.

However, they kept going. I saw archers, snipers, pirates, berserkers, fighters, warriors, manaketes...manaketes...manaketes...great, the system froze. Now I started to get a little panicked. I tried to turn my head to look at the other participants. It looked as if they were all in the same predicament as I was. Suddenly, the machines started to turn off, with the players inside of them, and from what I heard that was not supposed to happen. I started to panic, and then everything went black.

Pain...lots and lots of pain. It felt as if my body was changing, forcibly becoming something that I wasn't- "AAARRGH!" ...Hey I did say that it was painful. Anyway, as the pain went on, my voice became so hoarse that I felt that I had thrown up food, blood, guts, and brains before I blacked out.

_Where am I? _I felt tired and weak. I felt like I was just floating through space. I was in pain. I was tired. I was complaining. I was hot. Then, I was cool, and it felt great. It felt as if I went to hell, then came back to heaven. Strength flooded back into my limbs. My lungs filled with cool air.

Then I opened my eyes to green, brown and blue. My eyes focused and the gears in my head slowly started to turn. _Oh hey, trees, ooh and a lake. Hmm, this sensation really feels like I am falling. Yeah, it really feels like I am falling. _Yeah, the gears were **slowly**turning. Then it dawned on me.

"AAAA-

AAAA-

AAAA-

AAAA-

GGGG-"

-SPLASH!

* * *

I woke up on a beach, soggy and disoriented. As I got up, I noticed that I wasn't in Kansas anymore... I mean I noticed that I was wearing surprisingly cool and light black robes that went from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Different, but cool nonetheless. As I was admiring my change in wardrobe, I noticed an oddly colored rock laying there on the sand. _Ooh, pretty. _I thought.

I bent down to pick it up, and as my long fingers wrapped around it. Warmth and strength filled my body. I could feel the energy from the stone pulse into my body.

However, because I was not expecting that to happen, I let the stone drop and it fell back onto the sand. I just stood there looking at my hand, staring in shock. Thoughts were flying through my head faster than a bullet train.

_What was that? Where am I? Who am I? That stone, it reminds me of something, something, argh why can't I remember!? _For the next, I don't know, hour, I stood there trying to sort out all of the things that had happened. What did I remember was, pain, more pain and darkness.

Before that...I couldn't remember. I clutched my head and sank to my knees. I must have fallen asleep because next thing I knew, I was laying on the beach, the stone clutched to my chest, and a pack of wild wolves surrounding me.

Immediately I got up. "Whoa, Whoa! What in the world?" I frantically looked around, and realized that I was surrounded by at least a dozen wolves in a semi-circle.

One wolf, probably the alpha male, a big animal with a stretch of golden hair right down its back, advanced towards me menacingly, growling. The rest of the back followed suit, growling and crouching towards me.

I backed up, heading towards the lake that I first fell into, and turned and ran. "AAAAHHH!" Ran screaming bloody murder...right into the lake. I jumped out into it and started swimming as fast as I could away from the shore, praying that the wolves wouldn't follow me in, or that they would be smart enough to wait for me to loose energy and come back onto the shore.

However, like all bad self-insert fics go, of course they were smart enough to wait for me. Every time I would try to get to the shore, they would be there. Great.

So, there I was, out in the middle of some unknown lake in some unknown land, surrounded by wolves, that were, I believe, very hungry. Time passed and still, there I was.

After about the first hour, I was still swimming with the same energy that I started out with. It didn't fell like I had lost any energy at all. Actually, it felt more as if I was getting more energized! Then I consciously noticed that I was holding that weird stone that I had picked up earlier. My thoughts raced back to when I first touched the stone.

However, the power that I felt from the stone when I first picked it up was like a rushing torrent. The power I felt now was like that of a trickling brook, like the output of energy that it was giving me was greatly decreased.

Thoughts raced through my head, _What is this stone? How is it giving me so much energy? Can I use this power to save myself? _I didn't know what to do. I had never felt anything like this before...that I could remember, which wasn't saying much.

Still, I decided to do something completely illogical cause my situation was completely illogical. I closed my eyes, and willed the stone's energies to pour into me. I didn't know how I did it, but it felt natural, like I was supposed to do it. I felt the energy flow through my body, spreading from my hands, to my feet, to my head, and throughout my body.

My mind was so absorbed with the process, that I didn't even realize that my body had begun to change. My body grew larger, scales started to appear where my skin once was.

I felt my feet touch the bottom of the lake, I opened my eyes with a start and gave a yelp, because I thought I had gone under water and started drowning. However, instead of hearing a "eep!" or "whaa!," I heard a "ROAR!"

I saw wolves that were chasing me running away. I opened my mouth to speak, "What in the world..." However, instead of my usual voice, I heard a deep thunderous voice instead. "Wha-Wha-Whoah!" I saw my reflection in the water. Instead of my face, what I saw, was the face of a sixteen foot tall dragon.

"What in the world!? What is this?" Frantically, I spun around, checking the rest of my body. Twenty five feet of a sleek, scaly body. Four legs, the front two could be used as arms if the situation called for it though. "Darn, no wings...wait, that is seriously all that I can think of after I turn into a dragon. No wings...well, wings are cool, too bad." I sighed, turning my head to the shore that was now clear of wolves.

"Hmm, I wonder where they went?" I pondered with genuine curiosity, "and, what do I do now?"

Slowly I walked towards the beach. Once I reached the beach, I looked at my body once more. "Okay," I said to myself, "not this is really weird. Have I always been a dragon? If not, how did I turn into one?... Well, if this was a bad fanfiction, I would head out on an epic quest to find out my destiny and past from a wise sage who abides in a towering mountain fortress, surrounded by enemies. Oh, or he would be a she, and she would be a divine queen who appears only to the true of heart or once someone collects the legendary items that she puts in hazardous places to prove the worth of the hero. Yup, there are only two options."

Yup, still talking to myself, like usual. I need friends.

"Still, I guess I am not freaking out about being a dragon because I don't remember much about being human...and how I know what a dragon and human are at all is a mystery to me. Now that I think about it, it appears that I have retained all general knowledge."

My monologue continued on, "For example, I know that is a leaf, and that is a twig. I know the difference between blue and green. However, I do not know, who I am, or where I am, or how I got here..."

Suddenly, in the midst of my pondering life and all of its possibilities and problems (of which, I came to the conclusion that 42 was the answer to everything...I don't know how), when suddenly I felt a really sharp prick on the neck.

"Gah! That hurt!" I put my hand/claw thingy to my neck and felt a little wooden shaft sticking out of it. I grasped it between my claws and pulled it out, grunting with the pain. As I brought it around to my face, I saw that it was an arrow. Gears, clicked through my brain, arrow...bow...archer...human...behind me...oh. As a spun my head around to take a look at my assailant, another arrow embedded itself right below my eye.

"Ow! Stop it! What was that for? You just don't go around shooting people!" I growled at... a dirty blond boy (like his hair color was dirty-blond...well I guess he have used a shower, but that's beside the point), no older than fifteen, with a bow and quiver, and a bunch of rabbits hanging on a string that I presumed he had shot while hunting.

The boy responded, "Well, your not a person are you. You're an animal. Never seen one like you, but you could be potentially dangerous to the forest, so I don't mind shooting you." Then, he began to notch another arrow.

Snap, this boy has cheek. I reared back as he fired, the arrow, which sailed right on past, grazing the left side of my face. I growled at him, not wanting to hurt him but scare him off. He didn't even flinch, so I stepped it up a notch. I took a deep breath, and roared.

Something, was off. I felt energy gather in my mouth as I inhaled. I payed it no mind though and as I exhaled, expecting to produce only an ear-splitting roar, I felt the pent up energy in my mouth suddenly release and out of my mouth I fired a giant laser, going right above the boy. I mean right above, the beam was so close, the mere pressure of the beam knocked his hat off.

The recoil of the beam, because I was not expecting to fire an energy beam, rocked my head back, dislodging the arrow in my face and making it fall to the ground. The boy stood there wide eyed, jaw dropped staring at me. I stood there staring at him, both of us in total disbelief of what just happened.

"Y-y-your a-a dragon," said the boy pointing his finger at me.

That snapped me out of it, "noooo, what gave it away, the scaly large body? The random energy beam that I had no idea I could do until this very moment?"

Well, excuse me (...princess)," the boy said, also having snapped out of the initial shock, "I have never seen a dragon before, and I heard that wyverns were the only ones of your kind not extinct. How did you get here anyway, I hunt in this forest every day, and I have never seen you before."

I looked at him, "Wyverns?"

"Yeah, dragons with wings, which you do not seem to have, ha, dragon without wings, fail..." said the boy under his breath, "oh, and manaketes are totally different, those are people who can turn into dragons, they have wings too, ha rules you out...again. Your just weird."

I narrowed my eyes, "Hey, don't get on my bad side, I'll burn you to a crisp!"

Hooray for empty threats...

Thankfully, the threat had an effect on the boy, "Okay, okay sorry. Sorry, I won't do it again. Sorry...still, how did you get here, and what are you exactly?"

"I don't truthfully know, all I remember is falling through the sky and landing in that lake," I said, gesturing to the lake that I initially fell into.

"Hmm, actually, that's the reason I'm out here in the first place. You see last night my brother and I heard someone's scream from the forest. We would've checked it out, but our mother told us to go back to bed. So here I am," said the boy, "did you anything about that?"

"Actually, that was me," I said a little sheepishly.

"What? But the scream we heard was a lot higher pitched than you are..." asked the boy, tilting his head.

"Yeah about that, actually, I guess I am what you call a mantakete?" I said, not sure of the pronunciation of the last word.

"A _Manakete,_ huh, but you don't seem to be bad." said the boy, "I mean if you were one of them, you would've killed me already..."

"Huh, why would I be bad? Why would I kill you?" I asked once again, thoroughly confused.

"You really don't know anything do you?" The boy shook his head. "Come with me we'll talk about it over a cup of tea. Oh if you are a manakete, please return to your human form, we don't want my family freaking out."

I blinked, "You are ready to trust a random stranger that you just met and take him back to your home?"

The boy already started to walk away, "You aren't going to hurt my family are you?"

"Of course not! Why would I do that!?"

"Okay, than I see no point in not brining you (Luffy logic, works every time). The names Archer by the way."

I snorted, "Ha Archer's an archer! Funny."

Archer rolled his eyes, "Woooow, how original. I totally haven't heard that one before."

I dropped my gaze, "Sorry."

Archer just laughed, "Ha, don't worry about it, well, I gave you my name, what's yours?"

I just stood there, "Uh..."

Archer facepalmed, "That's right you have no memories, well, I'll call you...Zero!"

I looked up, "Zero?"

Archer laughed, "Yeah, cause you got ZERO talent at making jokes."

_Ouch._

"Haha, just kidding, actually no I'm not, I am going to call you Zero."

I pondered for a moment, and then spoke, "Zero, has a nice ring to it."

Archer smiled, "Thanks! Well, here we are, my home."

I looked around. The house was a small house at the edge of the forest. It was well kept, and looked like a nice cozy home. The house was stuck in the middle of a dense forest, and a wide, open, green, hilly plain that stretched really far, only to be interrupted by the sight of mountains in the distance.

"Wow, nice place," I asked still taking in my surroundings.

Archer smiled, "Yup, I think so...umm, could you transform out of dragon mode now? Might be a fright to my family if I bring a dragon home..."

"Ah about that, I don't really know how..." I said. Archer looked at me with disbelief. "But," I hastily said, "I think I can figure out how."

I closed my eyes and focused. Just like how the power flowed into me, I pictured it flowing out, taking form of the stone that the power came from. I opened my eyes and...nothing, I was still a dragon.

"Umm..." Archer looked at me.

Quickly, to avoid suspicion, I closed my eyes again. _I need to try harder. Wait, what if the change is permanent! What will I do then? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter because I don't remember anything about being human..._

Archer broke my chain of thought, "Umm, Zero, how long are you just going to stand there?"

"Wha-whoa," I opened my eyes, and there I was, two legged and human, once again. Surprisingly, my cloak that I had on transformed with me and I still was wearing it. "How did that happen?" I took a step forward only to stumble and fall.

Archer lunged forward and caught me. "Hey, you okay?" He looked worried.

I tried to stand, relying on Archer for support, "Yeah, it's just, my dragon form was powerful, I feel so weak now."

"Well, I'll help you until you get used to your "weak" human form," smiled Archer.

"Thanks," I smiled, "so why are people like me evil?"

"Oh yeah, I did say that," started Archer, "well, from what I heard, the manaketes hometown Dolhr has sided with Gra, Grust and Macedon, the human baddies, and have declared war on everyone else basically. They took over Altea, which was the most powerful nation, and have started to subdue the other countries. Currently they are winning their campaign in Archanea. Rumors say that Altea's Prince Marth, escaped from with a handful of his knights."

Archer took a breath, "I hope they did but it's unlikely, because Dolhr has been taking over lots of land since they took down Altea. There are only a handful of provinces left that Prince Marth could have taken refuge in. Oh yeah, your original question, well Dolhr is a nation of manaketes. They are known to be ruthless to regular humans and don't think twice about killing. I think that they started the war because they thought that the other humans were lesser than they were and that they deserved to be under manakete control."

I stood there my brain processing the information, "That's not very nice! Ok, understatement, that's horrible!" Archer nodded in agreement, "I mean, I would never do that!"

"I know," said Archer, "but others who have been hurt by manaketes would not take kindly to seeing one, even if they do have good intentions like I believe you do."

"Wow," I said, "just one more question, if Altea was the strongest, how did they loose?"

Archer hesitated, "I heard that they were betrayed by Gra, who were originally Altea's allies, and that during battle, Gra attacked the Altean forces from behind, surprising the Altean forces so badly that they could not recover form their own allies betraying them."

"Again, that's horrible! Those backstabbers." I exclaimed.

"Yeah, not exactly role models," Archer said, "well, aside from all the depressing talk, would you like to meet my family?

I jumped at the offer, "Sure, why not!"

As we neared it I could smell a delicious sent coming from the house. My stomach growled and Archer smirked, "Hungry huh."

I nodded my head, clutching my stomach which had completely natural noises coming from within it.

* * *

Well, that went well...or did it?

Regardless, review and read...not necessarily in that order...

Ciao,

SeaJade


	2. Meeting the Family

Part 2 of this amazinly cliche installment of a Fire Emblem self insert fanfic. Read and enjoy! I mean I hope you guys enjoy at least...

* * *

As we headed inside, the room that we walked into was a square room with a dusty floor, and two apparently home-crafted benches. Both of the benches had a sown fleece cushion and two fleece pillows, both the benches were up against a different wall in the room. A small bookcase was in the corner of the room, it's contents were well used and ranged form small children books to thick, ancient books in a completely different language.

Archer put his bow against the wall right to the side of the front door, "I'm home! Oh, and I brought a friend."

Another boy, taller than Archer, but with dusty brown hair entered the room. He wore a robe, not unlike mine, but of a lighter color and a taller hood.

"Catch anything?" the boy asked Archer, "and who might this be?"

Archer held up his catch, "Yeah, oh and this is Zero, I met him in the forest today, he was being chased by wolves. I saved him and brought him here. Also, he has seemed to have lost his memory, I mean, he didn't even know what Archanea was."

I looked at Archer. _That's not how we met. What is he-_Then I caught that Archer was giving me the look of _"_I'll tell you later," so I ignored it.

The boy looked at me, "Hmmm..."

Archer then turned to me, "Zero, this is my brother Ethen. He aspires to be a mage in the Archanean Army one day."

Ethen offered his hand, "Nice to meet you."

I just looked at it, "Same here."

Archer facepalmed, "Your supposed to shake it...like this."

I watched his demonstration of the "shaking of hands." Ethan offered his hand again. Then I grasped it and shook his hand.

Archer and I laughed, Ethen broke into a small grin.

A pretty, petite woman with long black poked her head in from another one of the rooms, "What's all the noise about?"

Archer spoke up, "Oh mom, just got back, and this is Zero. I found him with no memory in the forest while I was out hunting."

Archer's mom looked at me and gave me smile that only mother's can give, "Aww, honey, well, I'm Archer's mom," she extended her hand and I shook it, "and feel right at home here, I'm just in the kitchen cooking up some stew. Oh and just call me 'mom' okay sweetie. Well, today is the day that their father should be home soon, so just make your self at home."

Archer's mom pulled her head back and continued cooking.

Archer pulled on my robes, "This is our bedroom, nothing much, but while your here, this is also where you'll be staying.

The room was just a tad larger than the room that I first walked into. From this room, I could see Archer's mom working in the kitchen. There were two beautiful wooden beds. The wood was multicolored with combinations of browns and reds, each intricately designed with a pattern. There was a comfortably looking mattress on each of them, with a two pillows and blanket on each bed.

Archer must have caught my eye looking at the beds because he said, "Like the beds? Yeah, it really helps that our dad is a craftsman. He made all the furniture in our house. He goes to the towns nearby and sells or barters each of the sculptures or furniture that he makes. We really are a blessed family. Most families like ours have only a straw mattress to sleep on."

I nodded sat down next to Archer on one of the beds. I looked around and noticed that Ethen wasn't in the room. Regardless, I spoke in a hushed tome just to be safe, "Why did you lie about me to your brother?"

Archer looked at me and then took a deep breath, "Let's just say, that if he ever found out that you were a manakete, he probably wouldn't take that much of a liking to you."

I nodded, I had heard enough about manaketes to know that Archer's brother must have had some bad history with Dolhr. "You mentioned a Prince Marth earlier, who is he?" I asked.

Archer stared at me, "Ah, that's right, you have no idea. Well, Prince Marth is the prince of Altea as I said. He is the descendant of the hero Anri. Anri was the one who defeated the world's most dangerous threat in the past, the manakete Medeus. Since then, Altean royalty have been some sort of beacon of hope for some people. Prince Marth's father King Cornelius, died when leading the Altean and Gra Forces against Dolhr, the battle of which you already know the outcome," I nodded, remembering his previous information.

Archer paused, and then continued, "Well, King Cornelius was slain in that fight, leaving Marth the only heir of the throne and the last person alive to be able to wield the Falchion, the blade supposedly made out of the tooth of Naga, the great divine dragon, and maybe the one weapon that can kill Medeus."

"I thought you said that Medeus had already been defeated by Marth's ancestor, Anri?" I asked.

"He did, but there are rumors that Medeus has come back and is hellbent on destroying humanity." said Archer.

"Wow, so many rumors," I commented.

"Yeah, well, the Marth-fleeing-from-Altea-and-is-still-alive rumor is not much of a rumor, given that Dolhr has put a like a...was it 600,000,000 gold bounty on his head?...Well it was some high bounty." Archer trailed off, probably trying to remember the exact amount on the prince's head.

I whistled. I mean, anything near 600,000,000 gold is a huge bounty to place on someone's head. "Why did I have to loose my memory right when the world is so messed up?" I said more to myself.

Archer stood up, "Well, at least your not on the side of Dolhr. What if you were before you lost your memory..."

Just at the thought of being the type of manakete that would kill people in cold blood made me sick to the stomach, "Yeah, good thing I'm not..."

Archer noticed my discomfort and put a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about it, you are who you are. Don't think about the what-if's because you are here now, in the present, so just look forward to the future and who you will become, not who you may have been before...that makes no sense does it?"

The wording was a little confusing, but I nodded my head, "No, I think I understand. Thanks Archer."

Archer beamed, "Glad to be of help."

Ethen yelled from wherever he was, "DAD'S HOME!"

Archer and I up, and we walked back into the room which I first entered which I dubbed the 'family room.'

Inside, Archer's mom was wiping her hands on her apron, obviously just getting out of the kitchen to see her husband, Ethen was sitting on the couch, reading one of the books that was in a foreign language, and Archer and I just got into the room when Archer's dad walked in.

He was tall, to say the least, he had short red hair, and had to stoop down to walk into the house. Over his shoulder he carried a well sized sac that was almost bursting at the seams. He threw the sac down in front of him, and out spilled hundreds of gold coins.

Ethen dropped his book, "Wha-Wha-Dad, did you like, catch Prince Marth or something? How'd you get so much money!?"

Ethen and Archer's dad laughed, "Well, if I caught Prince Marth, I definitely wouldn't give him over to Dohlr! Those filthy manaketes-" I cringed silently while he continued, "No, I just had a great business week with some heavy spenders!"

I saw the father look around at his household, his wife had her hands covering her mouth, Ethen was still staring at the money while simultaneously trying to reach the book that he dropped.

Archer nudged me, "Hey, I told you that he was good at what he did."

I just nodded.

Then Archer's dad noticed me, "Oh, and who is this?"

Archer started, "Well, dad, I found-"

"Why in the world would you bring a manakete home?" Archer's dad interrupted, expression unreadable.

Archer and I froze, in fact, the whole family froze, the gold temporarily forgotten.

"A manakete, no-" Archer stammered.

"You brought a manakete home?" Ethen interrupted, obviously furious.

"No! He isn't a manakete! I just found him in the forest, right Zero?" Archer said in my defense.

"Yeah, Archer just found me in the forest-" I was interrupted by Archer's father.

"Don't lie to me, first of all, that stone is a dragonstone, which holds the essence of a manakete's power. I get around and I see all sorts of people for business, so I know. Two, you didn't just find it, because they don't pulsate like that unless they are in the hands of one who can use them, and in case you doubt me, give it to Archer, now." Archer's father commanded.

I looked down at the stone in my hands. It indeed was pulsing with light. _How did it get there! I thought I had it concealed! _

Slowly, I handed it to Archer, as it left my hands the light went down and just became a dull stone.

With out the stone, I felt the warmth of it leaving me and it's energies receding. I put my hand on Archer's shoulder to steady myself.

"Don't touch my brother!" Ethen spat, standing up with his book, that he picked up off the floor, open in his hand.

I immediately took my hand off of Archer's shoulder. Archer gave the stone back to me giving me the energy to steady myself.

"ACHER! Why in the name of Naga would you give back the stone to him!" Archer's dad yelled.

I heard a crackling sound and Archer and I both looked over at Ethen who had electricity curling down his arm and gathering in the palm of his hand.

Archer put both hands up, "Wait, Ethen, don't!"

Too late. Lightning flashed across the room, I felt something hit me on my side and I fell over, electricity flying right past where I was standing a moment before. The lightning bolt hit the wall and exploded in dust and smoke, charring the wall.

I panicked and I felt the stone automatically filling me with more energy, as if it was responding to danger. I also felt a hand grab my arm and drag me along. I forcibly tried to keep the energy from transforming me into my full dragon form whilst being led somewhere.

Next thing I knew, I was outside of the house, smoke coming from the entrance door, Archer, with his bow and arrows on his back, dragging me along towards the forest.

"Whoah! Archer wai-" I breathed as a was dragged along, giving a little resistance to Archer's dragging.

Archer gritted his teeth and pulled harder, "Come ON!"'

As we entered the forest, we heard a faint "ARCHER!" coming from the house. Archer cringed but kept forging on ahead. Eventually, we slowed down and paused to take a breath.

"Wha-What was that for?" I gasped.

Archer put his hand on my shoulder, "Hey, I just saved your life, and I don't even get a 'thank you?'"

"Saved my life? What do you mean by th-"

"My brother would have killed you with his magic." Archer interrupted.

"Oh," I said, "but why would you disobey your family to save me? I mean you've only just met me?"

Archer shook his head, "My family is the most important people in the world to me. That's why I won't let them kill you. I don't want my family turning into cold blooded killers just because your a manakete, 'cause your not like the ones that they are afraid of. As the saying goes, never judge a book by it's cover."

"But won't they be mad at you for running away?" I inquired.

"Maybe, but I know what I did was right. I won't regret doing something that I know is right, even if other people seem to think that it was wrong." Archer explained.

I nodded impressed, "Those are some strong morals to live by."

Archer grinned, "Thanks. Well, you stay here, I got to go home sooner or later anyway. If I can, I'll bring you some food, if not, well, I'll catch you something."

I nodded, "Sounds like a plan, ok, I'll stay here until you return."

Archer nodded an walked off. I watched him leave, thinking that it was just a coincidence that we had stopped exactly where Archer and I first met, by the lake.

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Ok, part 2 done...how was it?

So, I'm thinking a little more action will take place in the next chapter so yeah.

Constructive Criticism always welcome!

Ciao,

SeaJade


	3. Scaring Away Some Bandits

Well, finally I am back. Anyway, forgive me for the format, the spaces might be a little...spacey? Anyway, I promised action, so here it is!

OK, I'm not exactly the best at writing actions scenes (or writing in general) but regardless, I hope that you enjoy chapter three of this story!

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As it turns out, that coincidence of happening to stop by the lake, was really just a coincidence. There was no significance at all to that stop. Well, other than the fact that it helped quench my thirst better than Gatorade (not that I knew what Gatorade was or anything), there was no significance.

Time went on. I got bored. More time went on. I blew up some trees. I scared some pigeons. I was temporarily un-bored. Then I got bored again.

Then, I heard an explosion in the distance. Immediately my senses were alert. I was in full dragon mode at that time and my senses were a lot sharper than they were when I was a human. I was able to discern where the explosion had come from. It came from the direction of Archer's house...

Archer's house! My gut told me something was wrong. I know Archer told me to stay put, however, I wasn't just about to let him get in danger all by himself, not after how much he had helped me.

Taking advantage of my dragon form, I rushed through the forest, making the trip from the lake three times shorter than it took in human form. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw.

Ethen was on the ground, bloody and robes still smoking. Archer and Archer's dad were surrounded by a group of seven armed individuals, two of which were dressed up like Ethen. In the hands of one of the individuals, the one who looked like the leader of the group was Archer and Ethen's mom.

Archer had his bow notched and aimed at the leader, his Dad was standing back to back with Archer both hands holding a wickedly sharped ax. One of the men, in heavy armor advanced towards Archer, twirling a spear like object in his hands.

Archer adjusted his aim and fired at the approaching enemy, but the arrow harmlessly bounced off of his armor. The knight charged at Archer and was about to turn him into shish kabob when Archer's dad pushed Archer to the side and got stabbed through the arm, making him drop his ax. With Archer's dad out of the way and Archer on the ground, the bad guys started advancing.

Suddenly my rage grew and I let out a tremendous ROOOOAARRR! Everything stopped. All heads were looking at me, a sixteen foot tall dragon without wings. Archer looked a mixture of relief, fear, and pain and tried to talk. "Gebb-Gebba-Get-" he couldn't say more.

Some of the bad guys laughed nervously started to back away.

"Hold you fools! That is a manakete! We have an alliance with them! It won't hurt you! Get

back there and finish the kid off!" The bad guy leader yelled.

Archer's mom screamed. The rest of the villains regained their composure and started to advance towards archer.

I roared again and spoke, "**INSULENT MORTALS! HOW DARE YOU STILL STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF ME!"**

Then out of the blue, I got a sudden reckless idea, **"I AM THE THE DARK DRAGON MEDEUS! FOR YOUR INSULENCE I WILL KILL YOU ALL! BEG AND FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES AND I MIGHT OVERLOOK YOUR STUPIDITY THIS TIME! FLEE YOU COWARDLY BUGS!"**

This miraculously shook the men so much that some of of them wet their pants. "W-w-what are you waiting for!" Shouted the commander, "RUN!"

Then, the bad guys turned tail and ran, dropping their weapons and hostage in the sheer terror of the situation. As they were running I shot a beam of energy over their heads for good riddance.

I shrunk into human form and walked to Archer, and helped him to his feet. Archer just stood there staring at me. There was an awkward silence until I broke it by saying, "My transformation between my forms is getting easier to do..."

"You just impersonated possibly the most evil and cruel creature of all time." Archer said.

_Oh, I didn't think of that..._ "Oh, I didn't think of that," I said, "I'm really really sorry if I-"

Archer laughed and put a hand on my shoulder, "Hahaha, no way! That was brilliant!...Although, you were a little too nice to them. You need to work on you being mean."

I stared, "You want me to work on being mean."

Archer realized what he had said, "Actually on second thought, no."

I nodded, "Didn't think so."

Just then, we were interrupted by Archer's dad. "You saved us."

Archer ran over to his dad, "Dad! Are you alright?"

Archer's dad gave a "really?" look, "Well, I've been made holey, so yeah, I'm alright. Really Archer what do you think.

I snorted, "Ha, 'holey.'"

"Yes, Zero," both Archer and his dad said at the same time.

"HEY!" I exclaimed.

Then, we heard a sob from behind us. We turned and saw Archer's mom bent over her other son's motionless body, sobbing.

We made our way over there and found Ethen's face really pale. There was a lot of blood. Luckily I wasn't afraid of blood so I didn't pass out. I knelt down next to him. Archer's face grave. "Ethen," he said, tears starting to from in his eyes. Slowly, I put my hand up to his neck, beneath the jaw. I was able to feel a faint pulse before my hand was slapped away.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Archer's mom growled.

Archer's dad butted in, "Hey, sweetheart! He just saved our lives!"

"Mom" glared at me, "I don't care. He is still a filthy manakete, there is no telling if that was an act and if he'll turn on us. He didn't kill those soldiers did he? No, he must be working with them to kill us!"

"Mom," Archer argued, "If Zero was with them and wanted us dead, he could've just let them kill us, they were about to do it anyways."

"Mom" refused to budge, "I don't care! Manakete's cannot be trusted and I won't let one touch my son!"

I took a step back from the body, putting my hands up, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if he was alive or not. Which he is by the way. You might want to bandage him up before he really dies."

"What! My son is alive?" Archer's dad exclaimed, "What must I do to stop the bleeding."

Seriously, I had no idea how I knew how to check for a pulse, or how to apply basic first aid, but I did and I wanted to put the random knowledge to good use. "Take strips of cloth and tie them tightly around and slightly above the bleeding areas tightly. This will put pressure on the wounds and should stop the bleeding."

It was silent as Archer's dad ripped his shirt and tied the fabric around his son's wounds. "Now what do I do?" He asked.

Before I could give an answer, we heard the sound of hooves. Fear came back into everyones eyes, however, Archer was able to pull out another arrow and notch the bow, waiting for the enemy to come into view.

The hooves drew nearer and Archer's dad and mom moved their son into the house. Archer's dad came back out, one arm help loosely at his side, an ax gripped in his other arm. "Sorry," he said, "My wife has had some traumatic experiences with manaketes. She has every right to hate them, but she shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. So I apologize."

Now where have I heard that one before, like father like son I guess. I shake my head, "No need, I've heard about how cruel my kind can be, she has every reason to act like that."

Archer's father nodded. Then a lone horseman came into view. Archer aimed the arrow but his dad squinted his eyes.

Just before Archer released the arrow, Archer's dad yelled "WAIT!"

The sudden command caught Archer off guard, making him let go of the arrow, but altering it's course so it sailed harmlessly over the approaching horseman's head.

"That is the armor of an Altean knight! He might have vulneraries with him! He might be able to help us."

Archer looked so relieved. "I can't believe I almost shot an Altean knight. Wait, what's an Altean knight doing here anyway?"

Archer looked at his dad who just shrugged then at me.

I caught his glance, "Really?"

He face palmed, "Oh duh, you don't know anything, you got _Zero_ memory. Pfft."

"That's just bad," I said.

The knight came to a halt a few meters in front of us. As he dismounted his steed, I quickly stowed the dragonstone inside my robes.

"Greetings!" The knight greeted, "My name is Cain. I am a knight of the Altean army, serving under his highness, Prince Marth. We heard an explosion so I was sent here to see what was going on. What happened here?"

Archer's father stepped up, "We were attacked by some Grust soldiers. We were able to frighten them off but they were able to stab me and roast my son. He is inside. Please I beg, if you have any healing item's please give them to use. If you want money I have it, just please save my son."

Cain stepped forward, "Oh course! Where is he?"

Archer's dad pointed to the remains of the house, "He is in there with my wife."

Cain made for the "house" but then stopped went back to his horse and pulled two flasks out of one of the bags that the horse was carrying. "Here," he said, handing one of the flasks to Archer's dad, "this is a vulnerary, drink it, it will help." With that, Cain went straight to the house.

Archer's dad uncorked the flask and downed the whole thing. Suddenly, he stoop upright, color returned to his cheeks and he looked all over like a new man.

Archer's dad smacked his lips, "Wow those things really do their stuff."

Archer and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Then Cain came out of the house.

Cain walked up to Archer's dad, "Your son will be fine. Give him plenty of rest and don't work him to hard. Those wounds were not light. He is resting right now and may take a little time to recover. However, he will live."

Then, Cain turned to Archer and myself, "And you two, are both of you alright? It's very rare to see people physically unharmed after running into Grust soldiers."

Archer looked at me, "We are fine, we just had a bit of luck that's all."

Cain smiled forlornly, "Luck you say...we could all use a little of that. Especially back at camp. Yeah, some nice old luck would be nice."

Cain then looked up like he just remembered that he was in the presence of people. "Sorry about that. Well, if you guys don't need anything else, I must get back to camp and give my report."

Cain walked to his horse and started to mount it when Archer spoke up, "Hey, did you say that your army needed help?"

Archer's dad's jaw dropped, "Archer what are you-"

Archer interrupted, "Dad, I can't just sit back and watch anymore. There are people out there fighting for the freedom of Archanea while I'm sitting here doing nothing. We just got attacked for crying out loud! We aren't safe here anymore. I'd rather do something to end this tyranny than set here at home waiting for others to do all the work!"

Archer's dad walked over to Archer and put a hand on his shoulder.

Archer continued, "Please let me go dad, you can come along as well, with mother and brother. It'll probably be safer with other people than just to fend by ourselves. I know I am putting my life in danger, but at least I'm putting my life in danger as a hero and not as a coward lets others fight for him!"

Archer's dad then spoke, "Son, I have never seen you so determined before. But, your brother is in no condition to move and your mother and I are not going to leave him there. However, we do have that safe house in the forest that is near here that won't be found by anyone easily that we can go to."

Tear's started to fall down Archer's eyes, "Dad..."

Archer's dad's eyes were getting watery as well, "Son, I taught you how to shoot. Go, get out there and give those evildoers one for our family! You have my blessing son. I-I love you very much. Your basically a man now anyways, and when you come back, I'll be here, waiting for you and I'll get your mother to make your favorite dish and we'll celebrate. Go son, and make us proud."

Archer's dad pulled Archer into a hug. "Dad," Archer said, "I love you too, and I love mother and I love Ethen as well, Thank you. I will return and I will make you proud."

Father and son pulled away from each other, Archer turned and walked towards Cain. I stepped up to Archer's father, "Sir, I may not have known you and your family very long, and I know you don't have much reason to trust me, but sir I promise, I will protect you son and I will return him back to you."

I reached out my hand. Archer's dad looked at it and said, "I don't know you, and I have no expectations of you, but you better come back here when this is all over and then I will see if you are a man or not." With that, he took my hand and shook it.

Archer had mounted the steed and was seated behind Cain. "Your coming too?" Archer asked.

"Oh course! What else would I do? You're really the only person I know right now." I said.

"That is true..." Archer responded.

Cain broke in, "That's great, but I'll have to come back and get you, only two people can ride this horse at a time. Unless you an keep up that is," he added sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm sure I can," I said with a smirk.

Cain looked at me as if I was crazy, spurred the horse and sped off. I smiled as they left and said to myself, "I'll even give you a five second head start."

Then I turned into a dragon and ran after them.

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Whooooooooo, sooooo muuuuuchhhhh woooooork...

Anyway, hoped you enjoyed:)

So, I guess I don't need to say it but, Review and comment and yeah!

Ciao,

SeaJade


	4. Finalizing the Name Zero

Too all of my fellow completely canon fanfiction lovers and workers, this is your host, SeaJade, and we are back for the next installment of ANOTHER BAD FE FANFIC. Today, will our hero finally...oh forget it.

Special shout out to **cormag ravenstaf**f for being the first reviewer. Also, yes Julian is an amazing character. I hope that you approve of my interpretation of him.

**Gunlord500**- I'm glad that you have a buddy. Can't spell friend without fries. (Just made that up)

**SoMuchGerry- **I am sorry that you do not like shadow dragon...well, not everyone can be perfect I guess...andyway, hopefully this fanfiction will change your mind about the game. Also yes, don't judge a book by it's cover. Except when regarding the Twilight series, judge that as much as you want.

P.S. To all other readers. Look at the persons above. They are now forever immortalized on this page. They got this super high status because they reviewed. So, if you also want to be forever immortalized, then review and your immortalization will come.

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After about ten minutes, we were finally able to stop Cain from trying to kill me...which he almost did...several times. What can I say? I'm weak...kinda...actually, he is just really strong. Well, finally we were able to half-way convince him that I wasn't about to kill him. However, he wouldn't let me go back to camp with him and instead made me stay a whiles away from camp, waiting for them to come to me.

I guess that was smart, cause if I _was_ a mad, psychotic, murdering dragon it wouldn't be the best thing to bring me to your home. Well, first impressions are everything. I turned into my human form and sat criss-cross on the ground.

After about a half an hour, I saw a handful of approaching figures. I couldn't see the bright red armor of Cain, so I stood up and prepared for the worst. As they neared, I realized that Cain was just in the back, so I relaxed. One encounter with bad guys per day is enough for this dragon boy.

They came to a halt. I looked at them. They looked at me. I looked at them more. They looked back at me. I looked back at them even more. I saw one of them blink and was about to say, "Ha, I win, you blinked!" When one of the figures stepped forward.

"Hello, I am prince-" began the prince when suddenly another fellow, apparently one of his guards, with white hair put a hand on the prince's shoulder to stop him.

"Forgive me you highness, however, we do not know if this man means any harm to your person. I advise precaution while dealing with him," Said the older knight, "the only thing we know about him is what Sir Cain has told us...which was not much."

The prince turned and faced the elderly knight and smiled, "Thank you, Malledus, I appreciate the concern. However, if this man truly does want to join our forces, I want to be the one who talks to him first, and if not, that's why I have my amazing knights here to protect me isn't it?"

Malledus bowed his head and stepped back, "Yes my liege, forgive me."

The prince once again faced me, "Greetings, I am Marth, prince of Altea."

I took a step back. _Wait, THIS is the Prince Marth that Archer told me about?! The one with a 600,000,000 gold bounty!? _Truthfully, this was a surprise, so much so that I blurted out the first question that came to mind, "Is the bounty on your head really 600,000,000 gold?"

_Whoops_. Yeah, probably not the smartest thing I could have said. Immediately, his knights stepped forward and started to draw their weapons. "Woah, Woah!" I said as I stumbled backwards.

Marth held out his hand and his guards froze. Then he laughed, "Yes, they did put quite a high bounty on my head, didn't they."

Respect. That was what I felt for the man in front of me. The thought of having any bounty at all would have scared me from my head to my toes. Yet, this man, he cared less about the bounty because he believed in what he was doing. That my friends is a man.

Then my body just acted on it's own, like this was what I was meant to do. I knelt down on one knee out of respect. "Sire," I said, "if you would have me, it would be an honor to fight for you."

Marth laughed again, then he unsheathed the sword at his side and cut my head off...yes you read that correctly. (April Fools...even though it's not April...)

Marth laughed again, then he unsheathed the sword at his side. He put the blade to my shoulder and said, "Rise sir-"

"Zero, sir," I said finalizing the _evil_ name, "Zero."

"Rise Zero. From now on, you are a part of the Altean forces fighting currently for the liberation of Archanea. However, take note that this war that we are fighting is not one for self pleasure. This is a war for freedom. We fight to escape the tyranny of Dolhr and her allies.

We are fighting for the thousands of people that cannot fight, whether they be to young or to old or what ever their case may be. You are fighting for their freedom and your own. You will not kill unnecessarily and you will bring no harm to the citizens of any nation for our battle lies with the opposing forces and not with the innocent.

We are not fighting for self gratification or for glory, however, we are fighting for the oppressed. We are fighting for liberty! We are fighting for salvation from the enemy!"

_Ok, NOW I know what I signed up for. _I thought jokingly. "Thank you my prince," I said as I rose.

Prince Marth smiled, "I will assign one of my knights to show you around the came and get you settled in. Abel!"

A mounted knight in green armor rode up at the prince's summons. "Yes m'lord?"

"If you would, please show Zero our camp and get him settled in." Marth said.

Abel nodded and rode his horse over to me, "Hello Zero, I am Abel, knight of Prince Marth."

I met his greeting, "It is my honor Sir Abel," I said trying to sound cool (cause you know you would try to also), "I am Zero."

Sir Abel and I exchanged pleasantries on our way back to their camp. When I arrived, all the knight dispersed and did whatever they were supposed to do. Able then took me straight to a sandy area. There, was Archer and another person, about our age, also armed with a bow. It appeared that Archer and the other person were talking about archery because they kept gesturing towards their weapons.

"Hey! Archer!" I called. Archer looked up and noticed me. He gave a grin, hastily said something to who he was talking to and after receiving a nod, hurried over.

"It appears you already know someone in our army, a new recruit I assume given that I don't recognize him," said Abel.

"Yeah," I started, "Archer is my only friend." _That I know of, _I added in my head.

Archer basically pulled me off the horse as I was trying (and failing) to dismount it. "Zero! I was worried! You were gone so long, I thought that they didn't understand."

"Understand what?" Abel inquired.

"Oh, you mean you don't know? Zero is-" Archer began.

I put my hand on my shoulder to stop him. No needing to get kicked out of the army right after joining it right? By this time, the boy with the bow had come over, greeted Abel and said, "No, I too would like to know what I might not understand."

"Well, it looks like I'm not going to get out of this one," I muttered.

Apparently, the bow boy had really good hearing because he said, "Yeah, you aren't."

"Go ahead," Archer prompted.

_Easy for you to say. Your not a person that is generally despised by everyone and is a main target by the people whose army you just joined. Meh, here goes nothing. _I took a deep breath, "I'm what I guess you would call a manakete."

Abel and the boy looked at each other and laughed, "Hahahah! A manakete! That's a good one! If you were a manakete, you would have tried to kill the prince when you met him."

I protested, "But I seriously am one..."

Abel led me over to the center of the sandy area. "Look, Zero. You're new here so I'll warn you once. Manaketes are nothing to joke about. They are killers and are heartless. Please refrain from joking about them."

I opened my mouth and then shut it.

"Now," Abel said, "what weapon are you proficient with? Swords? Lances? Axes?"

"Don't forget bows!" shouted the boy who had taken Archer to the edge of the sandy area.

Abel nodded, "Yes, what about bows? Or perhaps tomes? Oh, might you be a healer and work with staves?"

I opened my jaw halfway and "Uhhhhhhhhhhh"ed.

Abel handed me a wooden sword, "Let's see how you are with one of these."

Abel brought out his own wooden sword and took a few experimental slashes. Somehow I was able to parry them. Then his blows started to get a little heavier and faster. In about ten seconds, my swords flew out of my hands. "Hmmm," I said, "I don't think so."

Abel nodded his agreement and handed me a wooden lance. Where he got his weapons, I will never know. This time I faired a little bit better. I twirled the lance around trying to look cool and ended up deflecting some of his blows.

At this, Abel nodded his head and smiled. At that smile, I felt deaths cold fingers grip around me. Abel took his swordplay up to the next level and I was barely able to fend off his advances. Abel spun around and came down with a powerful (in my eyes) overhead swing. My lance was thrown out of my grip and his blow struck me on the top of my head. Needless to say, I was out cold.

I woke up. A pretty redhead was knelt over me with a staff in her hands. I groaned and sat up, I noticed Abel, Archer and the bow boy all crowded around me.

"What happened?" I asked putting my hand to my head.

"Abel here," said the bow boy, "got a little carried away and sorely overestimated your skill with a lance."

"Ouch?" I said.

"Ouch," Archer confirmed.

Abel offered me his hand, "I am so sorry. It won't happen again."

I took it and said, "Eh, don't worry about it. You know I surprised my self with that lanceplay."

Archer snorted, I hit him.

Abel and bow boy exchanged glances, "Yeah," Abel said, "much better than a sword, but could still use some work. Now, are you up to continuing?"

"Sure, but on one condition." I said.

"Ok," Abel said, "And what is that condition."

"I get to fight my own way." I answered.

Abel nodded and headed out to the center of the sandy area. Archer put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, Zero, are you sure?"

I nodded, "I'd rather have my ALLIES (I said that word kinda loudly just in case) know what I am before they rely on me on the battle field."

Archer took a step back, "Ha, maybe you don't have zero brains after all."

I glared at him and walked towards Abel. As I walked away, I heard Archer say to the bow boy, "You might want to step back."

I reached the center of the sandy training area and I stood, facing Abel, who had his wooden sword out, facing me.

"Cain might've told you, but I'm a dragon," I said matter-of-factly."

Abel rolled his eyes, "He got you into that ridiculous story as well? Forgive him."

A little spark at the back of my brain told me something was amiss, but I dismissed it and concentrated at the task at hand.

Then from within my robes, I called upon the energies that I felt from my dragonstone and transformed. When I saw the look on Abel's face, I really wished I had something that could capture and preserve a single moment in time...if something like that existed at least.

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Originally, this chapter was going to be twice as long. However, I tried to upload it and everything went haywire and the story was ruined so I had to start over. By then, I was too lazy to do the whole thing over so I just put the first half in. The next half will come soon. Anyway read and review. Remember all you unimmortalized people, by reviewing your name can also be immortalized. The next chapter should be up withing a week if nothing goes wrong.

Ciao,

SeaJade


	5. The Secret Is Revealed!

Hey guys, I promised within a week so here it is.

Anyway **Comag Ravenstaff** Melledus, if I am not mistaken, is that old guy who is I guess kinda the tactician of the group...he shows up as a bishop, but he is a NPC. Oh, and I guess your mortal now that you've been immortalized as an immortal. They kinda cancel out...my bad. But, then again, I guess that you just got immortalized again so have you just been reimmortalized?

**SoMuchGerry, **thank you for pointing that out. I changed it, so if you want to, you can go back and see. Once again, thanks.

linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelienlinelinelinelinelinelienlienlinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelin

Abel's face was one of complete astonishment/doubt/fear/disbelief/confusion and it was the funniest thing I ever saw...which wasn't much taking that I had no idea what I had seen before I woke up in that lake. However, it was still funny.

I took a quick glance at the bow boy and he had the same exact look on his face. Archer was barely keeping in his laughter. I looked back at Abel who was struggling to regain composure.

"Hey, I told you, but noooo you didn't believe me!" I gave a really deep snort.

Abel by this time had regained his composure and drew his silver lance. I got ready for the fight of my life. I had to show them that I would not be a complete pushover- wait, _SILVER LANCE!? _Goodbye life, nice knowing you.

Abel rushed at me and I reared my head back. I quickly spun around and swiped my tail at Abel, but he just jumped over it. He ran and using my scales as leverage, he jumped onto my back. I tried to roll over on my back and get him off, but he just jumped straight up.

I got to my feet again. This time, I took a swipe at him with my claws, he sidestepped my momentum carries me forward past him. As I tried to find my balance, Abel whipped the end of his lance around and smashed it into my neck. I coughed and fell to the ground, the energy of my dragonstone slowly ebbing away as I changed back into my human form.

Next thing I knew, his lance was somewhat forcefully pressed against my throat. "One move and I slit you throat manakete," Abel growled.

Archer started to run forward, "Hey what are you doing?"

Abel put more pressure on my throat, "You! You are friends with him, Stay where you are or I'll slit his throat! Gordin, fetch Prince Marth, Naverre and Ogma."

The bow boy that was with Archer suddenly ran off. I was upside down with a lance against my throat for a few minuets more until Prince Marth, Gordin, the long haired swordsman I saw before, another swordsman with scars all over him, and a few uninvited others arrived.

Prince Marth saw the situation, "A manakete! How did one get through our guard!"

Abel addressed the prince, "We brought him in, sire, this is the Zero character that "joined" our army."

"Hey! I did join!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Quiet!" growled Abel.

Archer jumped in to defend me, "It is true! He saved my life, and my family's. Ask Sir Cain! He knew!"

Prince Marth turned to Gordin, "Gordin, would you please fetch Cain?"

Gordin bowed, "Yes sir."

As Gordin ran off to fetch Cain, Marth walked over to me and I felt more pressure on my neck. I thought_, I get it already, one wrong move and I loose something I'd rather not. _Of course I didn't say that out loud because when you've got a stabby-happy knight who has a lance up to your throat, you probably don't want to make him mad. Just a little food for thought.

"You did not tell us that you were a manakete," Prince Marth said, expression unreadable.

Now, I probably could have been smart and thought about what I was saying but instead I blurted out, "You didn't ask." ….Facepalm.

Marth raised an eyebrow. Abel applied pressure on my throat and growled, "Don't you realize the position you are in?"

Marth held his hand up to Abel, "That is enough Abel, thank you."

Abel bowed, took the lance from my throat and stepped back, still in a defensive posture. Marth nodded his head in thanks towards Abel and then turned back towards me.

"Get up, I would prefer you talk in a more comfortable position," he said.

I blinked, "Oh, thanks."

I straightened up, dusting myself off, and looked again at Marth. However, before Marth could speak, Cain came running in.

Cain ran up to Marth and stood at attention, "You called for me m'lord?"

Marth turned and faced Cain, "Yes, Cain, when you told us that we had a recruit for the army, were you aware that this recruit was a manakete?"

Cain looked at me, "Oh him, yeah I knew he was. I told Abel and Malledus but they didn't believe me. That is also why I said that it would be better to meet him outside of camp with a few guards."

Marth nodded, "Indeed you did, but why would you willingly let a manakete come into our army?" What made you put your trust in him?"

Cain spoke immediately, "Forgive me m'lord, I should have explained. He earned my trust because he saved a family from some Grustinian bandits. They would have slain the whole family if it weren't for him."

Marth turned to me, "Is this true?"

Before I could answer, Archer butted in, "Yeah it is-Sorry! I mean, yes sir, if it weren't for Zero, my family and I would all be dead. He saved our lives."

Prince Marth looked impressed, "Well then, Zero, it seems we were mistaken about you. Forgive us."

"Oh, no problem at all," I said, "It's understandable." Yeah, I know, pretty mature for someone who almost got killed. What can I say?

Then Sir Abel stepped forward, "M'lord, I have to protest. Zero could be a manakete spy sent to earn our trust and then betray us."

The older fellow that was with Prince Marth before also stepped forward, "My prince, I have to agree with Sir Abel. We still have no concrete proof that this Zero can be trusted."

_Gee, thanks, you guys are just sour because you're embarrassed that Cain turned out to be right..._

"No," Prince Marth responded, "I trust Zero. He may be shrouded in mystery but there is no denying that he risked his life to save the lives of innocent people. Also, I will not deny anyone, not even a manakete, from fighting for good. Just because most manaketes are evil does not make them all evil. That sort of discrimination will only cause hatred and mistrust. If we want to make a difference in this world, we must put aside our differences, whether manakete or human, to forge stronger bonds and make a world of peace. Is that not what we are fighting for?"

I nodded, '_Well, glad to know that I have someone on my side. Even though it's kind of ironic that he is raging war to eventually build trust. But hey, who am I to be a critic?'_

"Also," Prince Marth continued, "If he does turn out to be a spy, I have all my strong knights to protect me right? And do not forget, I am not totally useless with a blade."

I paused and then nodded, "Ok, well that is smart. I can live with that- Not that I would every betray you."

Prince Marth smiled, "Thank you Zero, I will hold you to that."

While some of the knights still looked suspiciously at me, most of the knights there seemed to be soothed by their Prince's words. '_It is true_,' they thought...maybe..., '_maybe there are manaketes that are not like the rest. We will never know unless we try.'_

As they started to walk away, I let out a deep breath and fell on my rum. Archer ran over to me. "Well," he said, "that was something."

I just nodded, taking in the air which suddenly became a whole lot more precious now that death wasn't hanging over my head. Suddenly, green armor was in front of me.

Abel stood their in front of me and looked down at me. I looked up. He let out a breath, "I am sorry for my mistrust. However, you must understand that in my position it is very dangerous to take risks. Regardless, I am sorry for the way I acted."

Then Abel reached his hand and pulled me to my feet, "I look forward to working with you in the near future. Oh, and I may not know much about how dragons fight, but try to center you weight, that way you won't be caught off balance as easily."

I gave a quick "thanks" as Abel walked away, Archer and I exchanged glances. "Well," Archer said, "he's not that bad after all."

I nodded, "Yeah, he just was being cautious and protective. Everyone must care for their prince. Now that's a sign of good ruling."

Archer nodded his agreement, "So, you good?"

I nodded, "Yup, still alive aren't I?"

Archer laughed, "Ha, that is true."

"Yeah," I said, "well, it's not too bad at least."

"Idiot," Archer said.

I looked around. "Soooo, what now?"

Archer shrugged. Eventually, we decided to greet and meet our new comrades and explore the camp. Our first stop happened to be at a tent with the red headed girl,who tended to me during my spar, and another red head dude inside, talking a little too closely and intimately to be labeled as brother and sister.

Apparently, the guy had said something funny because the girl started to giggle, but then stopped abruptly when she saw us from the corner of her eye. She cleared her throat and gestured with her head towards us to the guy she was with. Immediately they took a half-step away from each other and straightened up, both blushing.

"Ahem," the guy cleared his throat, "uhh, can we help you?"

"Uhhhhh-," I said intelligently.

Archer took the wheel, (not that I knew what a wheel was or anything...) "Yes, you see, we just joined this army and we were wondering how things work around here."

The lady stepped forward, "Ah, I recognize you two. You were at the training arena, and your friend there got hit in the head and passed out."

"Thank you for that, I didn't get the chance to say thanks before," I said.

She smiled at me, "No problem, it's my job after all. Anyway, I am Lena, one of the resident clerics, and this is Julian."

The man introduced as Julian stepped forward and offered his hand, "Pleasure to meet you. As Lena already said, I am Julian, and I am the resident thief in this army."

Archer and I shook his hand.

"I'm Archer," said Archer.

"And I'm Zero, " Said, well, the guy who couldn't remember his name, a.k.a. me.

"Well, for starters, this is the medical tent, used to treat the wounded. Would you like me to take you around and show you around?"

"No, no," Archer said, "Thank you for for the invite, but we were clearly interrupting something, (both Lena and Julian blushed) I think we will be fine on our own, pleasure meeting you."

"The pleasure is ours," the red heads said in unison.

Archer exited the tent and I was about to when I stopped and turned and pointed my finger between the two of them, "I'm guessing that whatever was happening between you two should probably not leave this tent?"

Julian nodded, "Yes, if you could not tell anyone what you saw we would be eternally grateful."

I nodded an headed out.

Archer was waiting for me, "Keep it hush-hush, huh?"

I nooded, and then got an evil glint in my eye, "Well, now we have some dirt on the two of them, heheheheh."

Archer slapped me on the side of the head, "I said, DON'T practice being evil."

"No," I argued, "I'm pretty sure you said I needed work on being evil."

"And then I told you not to."

"The first time is the one that counts."

"-glare-"

"Did you seriously just say 'glare' out loud?"

"...just don't."

I threw my hands up into the air, "Fine, I won't, happy?"

Archer crossed his arms and nodded, "Yup."

"Meanie..." I muttered.

Archer rolled his eyes, shook his head, and walked away.

linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelienlinelinelinelinelinelienlienlinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelin

Hey guys, review please. Yeah I got nothing much else to say.

Ciao,

SeaJade


	6. Training Begins

Hey, guys! SeaJade here. So, this chapter is...yeah. Well, I really just wanted to address the point (you'll find out) but I'm not sure how it turned out. It's my first time writing something kinda deep so...yeah. Anyway, I hope you have fun reading it because that's my goal! Oh, only reason this chapter is out so early is because my teachers miraculously gave us very little homework. Don't expect this type of deadline all the time.

_Super Shout Outs_

Ok, Cormag, can I call you Cormag? Anyway Cormag, I am not going to give a shout out to you this time because you've already gotten..three? Anyway, I'm not going to do that.

AAAAAANNDDD, for the super shout out of the day goes to...**RGSS!**(applause) Ok, that's over. Anyway **rgss**, i am glad you are finding the story enjoyable. Also, yes, while Marth, may have had his family and friends killed (exception sister), I just don't peg him as the type of guy to go all race crazy and want to take revenge on every manakete out there...cause that really wouldn't be good for me:) So now that you have been formally immortalized, enjoy!

-SeaJade

* * *

Well, after our little run in with Lena and Julian, we followed our noses and made our way over to the best part of the camp, the place where you get food. As it turned out, the "mess hall", I guess it could be called, was little more than a few campfires with a wooden contraption over each one.

Archer and I walked over to two people who were armed and looked like were about to leave camp. We recognized them as Sir Cain and Abel.

Cain saw us approaching and greeted us, "Hey, Archer! Zero!"

We walked over to him and greeted them.

"So," Cain said, "have you guys had enough time to tour the camp? Sorry we couldn't spare someone to give you the basics. We're kind of all swamped with work, war isn't all about fighting, you know."

"I can think of two people who aren't necessarily swamped with work," I said in a hushed tone to Archer.

Archer looked at me quizzically and then let out short laugh. Then, noticing Cain and Abel's confusion, he added, "Oh, sorry, we were just thinking that the camp seemed fairly empty, it must be because everyone is busy. Oh, on that note, is there any way we can help? We are part of this army as well now."

Abel looked at Cain, "Well, Cain and I were just about to go hunting, our provisions are a little low."

"If that's the case," started Archer, "I am familiar with this area, I can lead you to some very profitable hunting spots."

I thought back to the time I first met Archer, he had been hunting then too.

Abel nodded, "It would help if we had someone who knew the area. You are welcome to join us, and what about you Zero?"

I started, "Oh, no, I'm not from around here," _At least I don't think I am. _"I think I will stay in camp and help around here if that is acceptable."

"You sure?" Asked Archer.

I looked at him, "Yeah, I should be fine, well, as long as they have patience with me..."

"Well, we must not tarry much longer," said Abel, "the men do need to eat. Archer have you ever ridden a horse before?"

"Only when Sir Cain gave me a ride here," Archer responded.

"Then you can ride with Sir Cain again," said Sir Abel.

Once Archer was safely mounted, they took off, with Cain in the lead following Archer's directions.

I turned around and made my way back to the only two other people that I knew in the camp. As I reached the infirmary I stopped before entering the tent, listening as to see if I was going to be interrupting something...again. When I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary, I let myself in with a "Hey, Lena, Julian, it's me Zero."

I walked inside to see a sight that I had never seen before. They were actually working!

"Wow, you guys are working." I said before thinking.

"Hey!" Julian said, "it's not like we spend all our time goofing off."

"I jest," I said, trying to sound cool, "anyway, what can I help out with?"

"Well," Lena said, "You can help me check the sheets to make sure that they are clean so when the wounded come in, they will have a clean place to lay down. This is so their wounds won't get infected, and they die."

_Death. _I had never really pondered that concept. The concept of you only get one chance to do things in life. The concept of friends and loved ones never being seen again. The concept of taking something important away...

Now, I may have forgotten my memories, but the general knowledge that I did retain informed me that war courted death. That those who fought would have to kill and be prepared to die. I hadn't fully prepared myself for this reality. I sat down on the nearest cot.

Lena came over to me, "What's wrong?"

"Death," I said, "In this war, I will be expected to fight, I know that. So, how-how can I embrace the concept of killing someone? Taking someone's child, someone's husband away from them?"

My head was down, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Lena look over at Julian, who them came over.

"Zero," Julian said, "you are the weirdest manakete I have ever seen or heard of. A manakete who is afraid of killing? That's unheard of! I never would have believed it if you weren't right in front of me."

"Julian," Lena whispered.

"Sorry," Julian said, "what I'm trying to say is that the people who are out there, the people who you are fighting against, they won't hesitate to kill you. Sure, they have family, sure they have friends, but they have steeled themselves to kill anyone in their way. They don't show mercy to the weak, they won't spare you. They will also try to kill everyone here, all your friends, all your family. We fight and kill to protect our friends and family. We fight to stop them from hurting our loved ones. It is true that you should never get used to killing, but sometimes, that is the only way to protect what you care most about."

"Julian is on the right track," said Lena, "when you fight, you are preventing one of us from being killed, you are saving a life that could be taken by that enemy soldier. However, we must not kill an unarmed enemy. Also, we must not kill one who has given up. If we start to kill those people, we have crossed the line and are no better than those we are fighting against. Defending is one thing, but killing in cold blood is what we, is what all of us are fighting against."

There words struck home, I understood. Somehow, it made sense. I looked up, "Thank you, Lena, Julian. If I had gone into battle with hesitation..."

"Then you would have been killed," finished Julian.

I nodded, "I know, thank you, both of you."

We all stood up and Lena gave me a hug. "I'm glad that we could help you," she said.

I nodded.

Then Julian came over and patted me on my back, "Hey, no problem kid, now get to work."

Julian pushed me lightly over to a pile of folded, white sheets on the bed. Lena told me that to check if they were clean, I had to open them up, and see if there were any spots on them, and then to smell them. If they had a smell, give them to Julian to wash, if they didn't, then place them on another pile to be eventually put away.

We worked in silence, then, when we were about halfway done, I broke the silence, "It seems like we are preparing the camp for a battle or something? Are we?"

"Ah," Julian said, "you weren't here, we march in one days time to lend our aid to the Princess Nyna of Archanea.

"Wow, I choose a good time to join up," I commented.

Julian laughed, "Yeah, well, at least you chose a day that we weren't fighting a battle, you would have no time to prepare then."

"Yeah...oh, hey, Julian?" I asked, looking up from my task.

Julian just grunted and continued washing the sheet he was currently...uh...washing.

"Do you think that you could help me train a bit before we go off to war? Just so I can get some experience fighting without my opponent holding a silver lance to my throat?" I inquired of the thief.

"Hahahah, sure think kiddo, but just to warn you, real fighting will be with your enemies holding silver lances at your thoat," I answered.

I resumed my task, "Yeah, I know, thanks."

* * *

_Some time later..._

"Phew, finally done!" Julian sighed.

"Yeah, there were a lot of sheets weren't there." I said absentmindedly.

Julian stretched and shook his head, "Ok, now to train the dragon."

Julian and I walked outside of the medical tent and towards the training area. Then as we neared the training area, Julian took a sharp turn and started to head outside of the camp.

I turned my head puzzled, and then ran to catch up with Julian.

"Hey," I said, "Where are we going?"

Julian answered but didn't turn around, "Well, I thought with you being a dragon and all, you might want a bigger space to train than a training arena sized for humans, that's all."

"Ah, thanks," I said.

We continued a little ways outside of camp. Finally after we distanced ourselves a few hundred feet from camp, Julian stopped in an area that was mainly flat except for a few sturdy looking trees.

Julian turned, "Ok, this should be far enough."

I just stood there. He just stood there. We just stood there. Then Julian broke the awkward silence, "Well, what are you waiting for, turn into you dragon from and come at me. Experience is the best teacher over all."

"Oh, sorry," I said quickly. Then, I cleared my mind and consciously focused on the stream of power that was coming from inside my cloak. I willed the power to increase and the next thing I knew when I opened my eyes was that I was towering over my battle instructor.

Julian looked up at me and whistled, "Wow, that was some growth spurt."

"Eh, I guess," I rumbled in my ridiculously low voice.

"Anyway, before we start, how about we set some rules before we fight." Julian said, more of a command than a question.

"Ok, sure," I said.

Julian drew his sword that he had somehow pulled out from somewhere on his person, "First person to land a blow that in a real fight would have killed the other wins."

I turned my head and started to ask, "What do you mean?" but before I got out the "do," the tip of Julian's sword was one inch from my eye.

"That," he said, "is my win."

I blinked, "That sounds fair, and where did that sword come from?"

Julian just smiled and beckoned me with his hand. I gave a mental shrug, took a few steps forward and lifted my forearm. Then, I put it on top of Julian's head and gave some pressure. My claw immediately slammed into the ground kicking up dust and dirt. Julian stoop right next to where my claw had hit the ground. I then swiped my claw sideways, aiming to trip Julian, but he simply jumped over it. Then, he sprinted at me.

Not expecting this sudden movement, I flinched, allowing Julian to run underneath me and deliver two quick strikes to the back of my knees. One of the blows harmlessly bounced of my scales, but the other was delivered with a bit more force. That knee buckled for a moment before caving in and sending it to the ground.

I caught my fall with my front two arms and lashed my tail back and forth, trying to keep my balance. I felt my tail collide with something that I guessed to be Julian. I turned my head to see what had happened, only to see Julian fly back a few feet. However, instead of smashing into the ground, Julian put one of his hands on the ground and used the momentum to spring into a backflip landing firmly on his two feet.

I turned the rest of my body so that I was facing Julian. He straightened up and brushed himself off.

"Continue?" I asked.

"Of course," he said, "this ain't over till one of us wins."

We both readied ourselves. This time, I took things a little more seriously. I had underestimated his speed before, and Abel's words came to mind. I put my weight evenly on my four legs and awaited Julian's attack. When he got close enough, I lashed out, not with much force, but strong enough to knock him off balance.

However, Julian jumped to the side, my arm tearing some of his clothes as it passed him. Then, noticing that my guard was down, dashed forward. I, unable to react in time, had a pommel of a sword slam into my jaw, not breaking anything, but surely leaving a nice bruise. I growled in pain. Then, realizing that Julian's momentum had carried him underneath me, I flopped down, catching my self right before I totally crushed Julian.

I counted to three before standing up. Julian slowly rolled out from under me groaning. For a moment I thought I had actually hurt him, then he started laughing, "Well, I can say for sure that I was not expecting that!"

Julian got up and dusted himself off, "Well, let's go again."

"Again?" I asked.

He nodded, "I seriously hope that you don't intend to sit on all of your enemies while fighting, cause I doubt that will work very well. I mean, your lucky that my sword didn't pierce your underbelly."

"Oh, yeah," I said.

We both distanced ourselves from each other before readying ourselves once again. This time, Julian initiated the attack. Like before, he ran straight at me. I lifted my right claw to stop him in his tracks, when he suddenly changed directions and charged towards my right. I then tried to head him off there but I missed and once again overextended myself.

Very acrobatically, Julian jumped landing on my lift arm and then jumped high into the air, using my arm as a springboard. He landed on my back and then ran and jumped behind me, spinning his body and delivering a powerful two handed blow to my back, right leg. My leg immediately collapsed, face slamming into the ground due to the fact that my arms were extended in in no position to completely catch myself. Before I could find my footing, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my left leg before it buckled and fell as well.

I winced in pain, trying to stand up, but my left leg, now tickling with with an odd wet sort of sensation, would not obey me. I saw Julian walk back into my field of view, with a _whoopsies_ look on his face.

"What did you do?" I growled.

"Uhh," he said, "sorry about that, I guess I had damaged you scales in our bout before and I just cut through them right now. Hmm, they weren't as strong as one would believe."

I balanced myself on my uninjured three legs and slowly turned around to look at the spot where my left leg had just been. A small pool of blood was on the ground.

"Ugh, how bad is it?" I asked.

"Hmmm," Julian pondered, "Well, I've seen worse."

I rolled my great big dragon eyes and willed myself to revert back to my human form. When I had done that, I looked at the back of my left knee and stumbled. Before I could hit the ground, however, Julian had grabbed my arm and helped me steady myself.

I glared at him, "I thought that you said it wasn't that bad. You've nearly chopped my leg off!"

"Hey, I said I've seen worse," defended Julian, "and I have. And I thought your scales were going to be harder anyway. Oh, I'm pretty sure that's my win by the way."

I tried to put some weight on it, but sharp pain shot up my side. I winced and took a sharp intake of breath, "Don't you have anything to bandage it up or anything? Also, you actually hit me so I call cheating and you forfeit. So it's my win."

"Yeah, hold on, I'll get Lena cause it looks like your in no condition to move," Julian said as he rushed off, yelling back to me, "And, no, there is no cheating in battle so it's still my win."

I grumbled a thanks and carefully lowered myself down to a sitting position, my injured leg out straight in front of me. I don't remember how long it was before I saw Julian again. I kinda passed out for a length of time due to the blood loss, apparently a pretty major vein or artery was damaged.

When I came to, Julian, Lena, and the scarred swordsman from earlier were around me. Lena was crouched down beside my injured leg. She was grasping a staff with both hands, closed her eyes and muttering words which I assumed to be a sort of a prayer. I felt the pain in my leg start to dissipate and I saw the wound slowly start to close.

The skin around my leg had turned back into the pinkish color that it was supposed to and the pain was nearly gone. I stared at the spot where I had the wound before and looked up at Lena.

"Wow, that's handy. Thanks." I said.

Lena gave me a smile and stood up, "My pleasure. I'm glad we got here when we did, a little longer and you could have died."

Julian held out his hand and helped me up to my feet, "See, she's good."

From the corner of my eye, eye saw-I mean "I saw"-her blush and look away. Then the scarred swordsman came over to me and put his arm around Julian.

"So," he started, "you actually asked this guy to train you? I mean I you were wanting to know how to pick locks and pickpocket people that would be fine, but battle training? You'd be better off asking Lena."

Julian shrugged the swordsman's arm off his shoulders and gave a "Hey!" look. Then both of them started laughing. Julian punched the swordsman on the arm and said, "Really, I could train him better than Lena."

The swordsman gave another hearty laugh and agreed, "Fine, I suppose...but she could still whoop you but if she wanted to!"

Julian stuck out his tongue but didn't say anything back. The swordsman rubbed the back of his head and then turned to me, "Forgive me, where are my manners? I am Ogma, resident mercenary of the Altean troops...well, I guess I'm not really a mercenary right now 'cause I'm doing this on a favor...but who cares? I'm here, I wield a sword, I fight, whose complaining? Oh, sorry, well anyway, If you want someone to train you where you will actually stand a fighting change of surviving out there instead of a fighting chance of getting killed," he gave a quick glance towards Julian who looked like he was wishing he had a large rock to throw at his friend, "I wouldn't mind helping you out."

_Well, he looks strong,_ I thought. _I guess it couldn't be worse than having Julian continue to train me._ "Ok," I said, "that'd be great! Thank you!"

Ogma let out another laugh, "Hey, no problem. I just don't want our troops to drop like flies, that wouldn't be good! Hey Julian, I'll train you to if you want. I don't want you dying on me either."

Julian on the other hand muttered "traitor" and then shook his head at Ogma's offer, "Hey, I'm good. It's nice knowing that you don't want me dead though."

Not really wanting to train with Ogma alone, I called out to Julian, "Hey, you sure Julian? Going by how our training went, I thought you might want it...then you might not get flattened by me again."

"Not you too!" Julian sighed but then broke into a grin, "Having one oaf tease me is enough! But fine, I'll take some training too."

"It's final then!" Ogma finalized, "I'll train the both of you so you won't get killed in our next battle! No time like the present, let's begin-"

"After supper," Lena interrupted, "We will be expected back at camp, the hunters are back with our 'feast'."

_Supper? Already? And how did she know it was dinner time? _I thought.

Julian, obviously reading my mind, solved my conundrum (I think that's the right word), " Hahaha, yeah, Zero, you don't know, Lena can always tell whenever it's meal time. I don't know how she does it, I guess her nose just knows!"

Ogma agreed, "Yeah, she just likes food that much."

Lena grew beet red and puffed our her cheeks in mock anger, making herself look very cute somehow, and turned towards the camp and started walking away, tossing a "whatever" over her shoulder. Julian obviously thought he offended her cause then he ran over to her side and started to apologize. Ogma just laughed at the two of them and gave me the look of _"Well, what are ya gonna do? That fool is just hopelessly head-over-heels for her. Sigh, at least it's a sort of entertainment."_

Yes, he put that whole thing into one look. I was pretty impressed.

Anyway, Ogma and I caught up with them and the four of us walked towards the sunset hand in hand as the ending credits rolled down the screen...not, the four of us just walked back to camp, not hand in hand in hand. Oh, and no ending credits either. Ah, also, it wasn't even that dark yet.

?Wait-what are ending credits and screens? ? ? ?

* * *

Phew, that was a lot of work! Hope you enjoyed. Now, because I am expecting questions about it, I'm going to say this.

Julian, as awesome as he is, is not necessarily the best person to go ask for battle advice. Navarre, definitely. Ogma, yes. Abel, absolutely. Julian...not so much. Now if it was about lock picking and pickpocketing, then Julian is your guy.

So, if you were wondering something along the lines of "I don't think that training is very productive," or something like that, you are right, it wasn't.

On that cheerful note, R and R

Ciao,

SeaJade


End file.
